The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for processing an image signal, an image capture apparatus including the image processing apparatus, and an image processing method, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus, an image capture apparatus, and an image processing method capable of processing image signals having a plurality of different picture rates.
In recent years, as a competition in the development of image capture apparatuses represented by digital still cameras becomes more severe, consumer image capture apparatuses are required to be higher and higher in image quality, circuit integration and function. Accordingly, special functions thus far restricted to professional use starts spreading among consumer apparatuses. A high-speed image capture function which performs image capture at a picture rate higher than a normal image capture rate is one representative example of the special functions. If the high-speed image capture function is to be realized, the speed of internal operation of such an image capture apparatus needs be increased.
There is a related art image capture apparatus which is constructed to realize high-speed image capture by using an external recording device, such as an external memory or a hard disk drive, connected to the apparatus (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication Number hei9-186964 (Paragraph Numbers [0004] to [0005] and FIG. 1)). There is also a related art image capture apparatus which is constructed to increase the throughput per unit time of image data and realize high-speed image capture by adopting a circuit structure for processing data from a sensor in parallel (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication Number hei8-251492 (Paragraph Numbers [0027] to [0036] and FIG. 1)).